Bill Burns (baseball)

Bill Burns

Pitcher

Born: January 27, 1880
San Saba, Texas

Died: June 6, 1953 (aged 73)
Ramona, California

Batted: Both

Threw: Left

MLB debut

April 18, 1908, for the Washington Senators

Last MLB appearance

May 23, 1912, for the Detroit Tigers

MLB statistics

Win–loss record

30–52

Earned run average

2.72

Strikeouts

233

Teams

William Thomas "Bill" Burns (January 27, 1880 – June 6, 1953), nicknamed "Sleepy Bill," was an American baseball player who played as a pitcher in Major League Baseball for five different teams from 1908 to 1912. Burns earned his nickname for his noticeable lack of intensity on the mound.

Burns is best known for his involvement in the alleged fixing of the 1919 Chicago White Sox World Series, dubbed the Black Sox Scandal.

In his five-year career, Burns played for the Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and Detroit Tigers. In his rookie season, 1908, Burns had a 1.69 earned run average (ERA) which was sixth best in the American League. However, he had a career record of 30–52 as a pitcher and never won more than eight games in a season.

Pitching against the Tigers on May 21, 1908, Burns' bid for a no-hitter ended after 8 2/3 innings when Germany Schaefer singled to drive in the game's only run. On July 31, 1909, now pitching for the White Sox against Walter Johnson and the Senators, Burns again was one out from a no-hitter when it was broken up. This made him the first pitcher in baseball history to suffer this fate twice, a feat not repeated until Dave Stieb lost no-hitters with two outs in the ninth inning in consecutive starts on September 24 and 30, 1988. Yu Darvish would have become the third on May 9, 2014 , but a seventh-inning error was officially re-scored as a hit five days later after an appeal by David Ortiz . Stieb would go on to break Burns's record on August 4, 1989, this time losing a perfect game with one out to go.

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